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River Road Opens Sooner than Expected

Superintendent John J. Donahue announced this morning that the first phase of patching and paving work on River Road in Middle Smithfield Township has been completed well in advance of the predicted completion date allowing the NPS to open the road sooner than expected. The road was expected to be closed for at least 2 weeks during this phase of the project.

"We are fortunate that the contractor completed the work so quickly considering the poor weather we had last week," said Donahue. "They worked long hours and pushed hard to get done early and we appreciate their efforts. While no one likes having to put up with construction and detours, everyone likes a smooth ride when they drive," he added.

Last week's work was primarily focused on completing patch repairs to the pavement. On or about September 8, the road will be closed again for one week so that contractors can apply a final chip seal and new line striping to the entire road surface. At that time, River Road will be closed from park headquarters to Smithfield Beach allowing access to Smithfield Beach from the south;once that section is completed, River Road will be closed from the park boundary at the south end to Smithfield Beach and Smithfield Beach will be accessible from the north. The closure will extend through the evening during the week. The road will be open on weekends, beginning Friday evening and extending through Monday morning. During this period, contractors will also be working on Route 209 to repair failing rumble strips.